Friday Foto Fun

Today, Catherine (my photo buddy) and I started out with great hopes of this being a great photo day.  The weather was promising, the skies were almost clear, we had the whole day ahead of us.  Georgia (my GPS) was primed and ready.  The day unfortunately began as kinda of a bust.  Well, it was mostly my fault, it was my week to choose the adventure, but I couldn't seem to come up with anything photo worthy, so Catherine suggested we head toward Oswego, roam awhile, and then have lunch at a charming restaurant in the country called Emerson Creek. 

So heading west we drove with our eyes peeled looking for adventures, nothing.  We got so desperate we started looking at garage sales.  Stopped at one, Catherine spent $2.00 on a toy for her dog Rumford. We headed west again traveling down who knows what road, we passed a tiny cemetery right next to the road.  We stopped, unlatched the gate and entered a sad, sad little piece of land.  There were 10 or more headstones, all had toppled over and almost impossible to read what had been etched on the stone.  They all appeared to be from the 1800's, both men and women.  By the time I walked back thru the gate, tears were rolling down my cheeks.  The sadness I felt was due to the lack of care given to these markers of one's life.  Maybe all of the living family members had moved away, maybe there were no living family members....I don't know, but as I walked around this small plot of land with these headstones that were in disarray I began to grieve for this forgotten piece of land.  May God have mercy on their souls. 

Iris

After I composed myself and wiped the tears away, back on the road again we spotted a "plants for sale" sign. I love to buy plants from local growers....they are proven to grow in our rotten, clay soil, survive our horrific winters, our iffy springs, and our hot, humid summers.  (wow, why do I live here?? sounds like a terrible place to live??)  We drove up to a lovely yard overflowing with iris', hostas, ferns, bleeding hearts, peonies, all in glorious bloom.  Needless to say, this stop left a smile on my face instead of tears in my eyes. After purchasing a lovely ostrich fern, we headed toward the restaurant. 

I ordered a salad and the ham & asparagus crepes.  Oh yum, yum....the salad was full of fresh strawberries, mandarian oranges, a good helping of slivered almonds (I love nuts on food!!) and a dreamy dressing.   Dessert was a little pastry pocket filled with dark chocolate granache, topped with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.  Have I made you hungry yet??  I definitely left here with a smile on my face and feeling completely satisfied.  

We stopped at one more interesting spot, but I think I'll reveal that another day. 



Beginning the day with no plans, stopping at a cemetery that made me sad, enjoying a lovely garden, eating an absolutely delicious lunch all resulted in finding joy in the day. 

Until next time......

Woman to Woman Connection

Today was the last day of "Women on Wednesdays" Bible study until the fall.  My good friend, Marti, the owner of the beautiful alliums in an earlier post, suggested several years back (4 or 5, I forget) that we sign up for her church's bible study on Wednesday mornings.  At the time I was in great need of a spiritual uplifting.  It was a really down time in my life and I guess I needed reassurance that God was there for me.  I began attending each week, gradually getting to know the ladies in our group, and by the end of the second year truly felt a strong connection to this group of women.  A couple of years ago when the study ended in the spring, our bonds of friendship had grown to the point that we did not want to go all summer without that weekly connection.  Our local Barnes & Noble bookstore coffeeshop was the perfect place to continue.  So each week, promptly at 9:30 AM (well, sometimes it wasn't quite so promptly) we gathered, drank coffee (at the time I was the ONLY coffee drinker, the rest drank tea) and mulled over our lives.  Last year the group grew, again meeting promptly at 9:30 AM (again sometimes NOT) drinking coffee/tea (I really don't know how you get that jolt that I need in the morning by drinking tea).  This year we expect the group to grow even larger since the word has spread how much fun we have, how we express our opinions on the latest whatever, how we listen to each other's trials as well as triumphs, and generally have that woman to woman connection.  I think all women need that and it's a totally different kind of connection than you have with your husband or your children.  Somehow your husband doesn't quite get the overwhelming desire I had a couple of weeks ago when I bought 2 watches at Macy's.  But your girlfriends understand.

The above photo is of the Columbine's that are now in bloom next the church parking lot.  I snapped this after our last WOW session today.

OK, now that we are down to the last 3 on DWTS....who do you want to win and take home that Miraball Trophy??  I think I am leaning toward Hines & Kym, wasn't it just frightening when she was injured and so sweet of Hines to show his emotions like he did?  It just proves that those big strong football players are real men, they cry.
Until next time...

A Tuesday in May

Now I don't know about you but I love cuties, and cuties are not just for kids.  They are sweet, easy to peel and NO seeds.  And  I sure do like the voice of that little girl who does the cutie commercials, heck for all we know she may be a 30 year old with a really high pitched voice....but, I diverse.  I bought these at the grocery store last night and as I was complaining about the price of raspberries $5.29 (gasp) for one of those little tiny cartons and there is usually at least 1 or 2 that are rotten at the bottom, I noticed the cuties.  They were reasonable, $3.29 for a small bag, but my oh my they were so small, about the size of golf balls.  Can you tell by the picture??  The bowl is a rather small bowl, something you would put ice cream in, wait no, that is too small for ice cream, maybe cereal.  And the grocery man told me it was the last batch of the season, no more til next season.  Sad, because I do love cuties, how about you? 

Today was cleaning lady day.  Now the 1st question is, why do I need a cleaning lady when I am retired with few obligations?   If you have a cleaning lady you know the answer to that, but for those who don't, I can NEVER clean my entire house in 1 day, it was always the upstairs one day, the downstairs another.  And more times than not, I never got around to finishing the entire house in 2 days, 3 days, 4 days or more.  Something about having your whole house clean in a morning that is bliss to me.  And the 2nd question is do you "clean-up" for your cleaning lady?  Now there is a BIG difference between cleaning and clean-up.  That seems to be a standing joke among husbands..."why do you need a cleaning lady when you clean-up before she even arrives?"  Well heavens, how could the cleaning lady clean your bathroom with all your stuff still on the sink, or the kitchen with the the junk mail still on the counter-top?  You know what I mean, there is a huge difference between cleaning and clean-up.  One doesn't happen without the other. 

Isn't this gorgeous?  While the cleaning lady was still cleaning, we went to "The Growing Place" our local garden center, far too close to our house, not more than a 5 minute drive, to wander and look around.  Oh my it was amazing, the colors, the aromas, the excitement, the lushness of all the new flowers & plants.  I had already decided that I wanted red gernaniums for the front porch.  We have a red front door and red geraniums seemed an obvious choice.  But this is the 1st time in several years I have had red on the front porch, don't ask why.  I think I go to the garden center or to Home Depot or wherever, and something strikes my eye and their goes the red idea.  But today I fell in love with these lush, deep-red trailing geraniums.  I splurged and bought 2, one for each of my 2 white pots.  More pictures coming later. 

Well, it's time for Dancing with the Stars, so bye for now.  They are all good, I don't even have a fav at this point.